A Different Kind of Mission
by Ashuuchan
Summary: It's uncomfortably warm at the Black Order HQ, and Allen is on a personal mission... He seeks cool refreshment! And who does he drag along on his quest for a cold treat? Who else but Lavi and Yuu-chan! Very light BL. OMG, an update! 8D
1. Staring Contest

**A/N:** So, here's the first chapter of my first story, on this account at least. I got this random idea in my head when walking to my house in the heat... Nya. Hope you enjoy! Reviews equal love!

Warnings: Hints of light BL. If you get squeamish at boys hugging, then I wouldn't read this story if I were you. Hee.

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Chapter one: Staring Contest

"Yuu."

"Don't call me by my first name."

"Let's have a staring contest!"

"…"

"Please? I'm bored!"

"…You only have one eye…"

Lavi blinked his one eye and stared at Kanda coldly. "That doesn't matter!"

Kanda avoided Lavi's gaze and took a long drink from his glass of ice water. It was unusually warm inside the Black Order Headquarters today, and everyone had their own ways of trying to keep cool. Lavi was wearing a shirt with the sleeves cut off and an ice package tied to the back of his neck.

Kanda finally looked back at Lavi, not blinking.

Lavi blinked.

"You lost already."

"HEH? You didn't say start!" Lavi complained.

"Fine. Start."

The two exorcists stared unwaveringly into each others eyes. (In Lavi-kun's case, eye.)

Lavi twisted up his face, still staring hard. He balled up his fists and pressed them into the table. He tapped his foot. Kanda smirked.

"Just think of how dry your eye is getting."

"Shut up! Interference!"

--

In the long hallways of the Black Order, a younger exorcist was wandering in search of his red-headed friend.

"Lavi-kun!" Allen called. His white unbuttoned shirt floated away from him as he walked, and he fanned himself with a pink paper fan that Linali had given him.

"Where is he?..." Allen muttered to himself as he searched. The white-haired boy wanted to take advantage of the clear sunny day outside by going to the nearest town and getting a cold treat. And Lavi's growing hammer was the most convenient mode of transportation, in Allen's mind.

At that moment, Allen happened to spot Johnny Gill from the science department walking in his direction down the hall.

"Oh! Johnny-kun!" Allen called out.

Johnny looked up from the thick pile of papers he was carrying and smiled at Allen. "Allen-kun! How's it goin'?"

"Good!" Allen said, as they both stopped to talk. "Have you seen Lavi anywhere, by some chance?"

Johnny pushed his thick glasses up closer to his eyes and thought. "Ah!" he said, pointing a finger upwards. "I saw him upstairs arguing with Yuu not long ago."

"Thank you!" Allen said, and ran off. "Good luck with your work!" he called from the nearby stairs. Johnny looked down at his workload in his arms and became gloomy.

--

"You're crying."

"I'm not."

"You have tears running down your face!" Lavi said, wringing his hands together and kicking his chair with his heel. "Just give up!"

"You're the one having a spasm over there, destroying your hands and chair," Kanda pointed out. "Just blink and end this, you know you want to."

"Lavi-kuuun!" a voice called from far away.

"Moyashi-kuun!" Lavi yelled back.

"Hey! Don't call me that!" Allen yelled back, his voice a little louder. Kanda chuckled, still holding his gaze. He wiped some of the tears from his watering eyes off his cheeks.

"Just think of how soothing it would be to blink, Kanda," Lavi cooed.

"You can't control the urge anymore, Eyepatch. Blink," Kanda said.

While the two 'friends' tormented each other with words, Allen walked into the doorway, smiling. His smile quickly turned into a look of confusion.

"Kanda? Lavi-kun?" Allen said. He fanned himself with the paper fan and walked towards them. "What are you two-"

"STOP RIGHT THERE, MOYASHI!" Kanda and Lavi yelled, drawing their weapons and pointing them at Allen, while maintaining their stares.

"UWAH!" Allen cried, holding his left arm in front of his face. "What are you two doing?!" He asked again, in a more irritated tone.

"Staring contest," Lavi said.

"I will not give in," Kanda said.

Allen blinked at the scene of the two staring intently at each other. "You both look like you're ready to make out…"

"Moyashi…" Kanda said in a dangerous tone. Lavi just laughed.

Allen walked past his friends now lowered weapons and kneeled at the table, resting his arms and head on the edge. He looked continually between Lavi and Kanda. "How long have you two been doing this for?"

"Seventeen minutes," Kanda said.

"Really?!" Lavi said. "I'm the man!"

"Not yet," Kanda said. Lavi growled.

And Allen sighed.

"Boring…"

"Then go away!" Kanda barked.

"I want to ask Lavi-kun something…"

"You want a date?" Lavi asked.

"What?!"

"Ew," Kanda said bluntly.

Lavi laughed. "I'm kidding, what is it, Allen-kun?"

"Do you want to go to town and get some ice cream?" Allen asked sweetly.

"Are you only asking me because I can get you there fastest?"

"No! You're my friend, that's why I'm asking you! Besides, Linali's boots could get me there faster. I just want to go with you."

"And I assume you knew Linali-chan is busy helping Komui-san with cleaning up a chemical explosion today?"

"Uh… heh…"

"Just as I thought!"

"You two are annoying…" Kanda complained.

"Aw, don't be sore because Allen didn't ask you out too, Yuu."

"You're on thin ice, Eyepatch…" Kanda threatened.

Allen furrowed his eyebrows, staring back and forth at his friends. He tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"Whoever blinks first, I will clean their room!"

No reaction.

"Hmm… whoever blinks first, I will… give them a foot rub!"

No reaction.

Allen banged his head on the table. "What can I do?!"

* * *

**A/N:** Teehee. I tried to make a cute n' fun first chapter. Will Allen-kun be able to put an end to the dry-eyed madness?? Find out in the next exciting chapter! 8D -shot-


	2. Leaves and Curse Words

**A/N: **So, here's chapter two for you guys. I'm very grateful for the reviews and fav's and stuff. :D I love you all! Anyways, this chapter I like more, because there's more action. (I should really go to bed...) I hope you guys like it! Feed a starving author moar reviews! 8D

Ouh, I guess I could put this here, too... I'm not getting any email alerts from the site anymore, guise. D: I 'unno why. Any thoughts? (I'm still reading my reviews, though. XD)

Anyways, enjoy!

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Chapter two: Leaves and Curse Words

"Your eyes are drying up like raisins, Yuu."

"Your squinty little eye is arid as a desert, Eyepatch."

"You guys are weird…"

"Shut _up_, Moyashi!" Kanda snapped at Allen.

"But it's been twenty two minutes since either of you have blinked!" Allen complained.

"Eyepatch is squinting so badly, he should be disqualified," Kanda said.

"Fuck you!" Lavi said. "It's still open! I can see every tear that falls down your pristine doll-like woman's face."

"You asshole! I'll kill you when this is over…"

Allen sweatdropped. They were both becoming irritable…

**-BANG!!-**

The three friends all flinched at the sudden loud noise… and blinked. They all turned their heads towards the doorway.

"Reever?" Allen asked, a little stunned.

Reever was standing in the doorway, his arms and hands in front of him as if he had just been carrying something. Directly below his hands was a thick, leather-bound book a foot thick.

Lavi and Kanda starred in horror at the scientist. Kanda immediately began wiping wasted tears from his face.

"Reever-san?!" Lavi cried. "Why? WHY?!"

Reever shrugged. "I was watching you guys for a few minutes and got bored…" He knelt down and picked up his book. "You guys need hobbies…" He said tiredly as he walked away.

Lavi held his hands in front of himself in woe, while Kanda simply sat there, fuming.

"Fucking scientist should mind his own business!"

Allen raised an eyebrow at Kanda. "It was just a staring contest!"

Kanda began chasing Allen around the room with Mugen. "FUCKING MOYASHI!! WHAT DO YOU KNOW!?"

"UUWAAHHH!! LAVI-KUUN!" Allen cried.

Lavi rubbed his eye a few more times before standing up. "Well, I'm still the man, because it was a draw." He picked up his hammer from the floor.

Kanda stopped chasing Allen around and huffed. "Say whatever you want…"

Allen, carefully avoiding an irked Kanda, walked over to Lavi. "So, Lavi-kun! You want to go get some ice cream?" he asked, smiling sweetly.

Lavi pushed his thick red hair out of his face and fanned himself with his headband. "It's so hot, though…"

"It's just as hot in here as it is outside," Allen said. "And I'm so bored!" he complained, clasping his hands together and bringing them to his face. "Please, Lavi! Please please _please!_"

"Okay, okay!" Lavi said, waving his hand. "Just stop begging!"

"Yay!" Allen said, hugging Lavi.

"Moyashi is too effeminate…" Kanda said, watching the scene with a raised eyebrow.

Allen turned his head and glared at Kanda, still hugging Lavi.

"You're just jealous!" Lavi bragged, wrapping his arm around Allen's waist. Allen laughed.

"I'm gone…" Kanda said, slightly red in the face and walking towards the doorway.

"You want to come, Kanda?" Allen asked, letting go of Lavi.

"No."

"Why?" Lavi asked, scratching the side of his head with the handle of his hammer.

"Because…"

"Yes?" Allen asked.

"…because…"

"Yeah?" Lavi said.

"…You guys look idiotic when using Eyepatches hammer to travel…"

Lavi and Allen sweatdropped. "You're so prideful, Yuu…" they said in unison.

Kanda sighed irritably. "If you two won't leave me alone, then I suppose I'll have to accompany you…" he said, not looking at the two. "You two are going to get lost if I'm not there, anyways."

Lavi snickered and began leading the way out of the room. "Look at this guy, thinks he's Mr. Navigator. I guess he's better than Allen-kun, at least…"

"You're mean, Lavi-kun…"

--

The three exorcists found their way out of the ominous building, and now stood next to each other along a grassy cliff nearby. Kanda looked out of place wearing his uniform's coat, next to Allen and Lavi who were wearing clothes suitable for the hot weather. They were all staring into the distance.

"Ah, I know which town you're talking about, Allen-kun," Lavi said, holding a hand to his forehead to shade his eye. "It's the one with that cafe owned by that middle-aged brunette woman. It should be right… over there," he said, now pointing with the same hand. He turned to Allen. "What's the name of that town, again?"

Allen glanced at Lavi and then upwards, furrowing his eyebrows. "It's… Rimbey? Or is it Eckville?..." Allen blinked and cocked his head to the side, staring hard at a cloud.

"Tsk…" Kanda said, closing his eyes and lowering his head. "You don't even know the name of the place we're going?" He opened his eyes partly and stared at a grasshopper near his feet. "Stupid Moyashi."

Allen glared at Kanda. "It doesn't matter what the name of the town is. What matters is if they have ice cream there or not!" Allen explained, smiling goofily.

Kanda shook his head, staring down into the greenery below the cliff. His eyes widened slightly and he became even more still.

"Yeah, I remember going there twice before," Lavi said to Allen, swinging his bare arms back and forth in the sun. "The brunette woman who owns the place is pretty attractive."

Allen laughed and fanned his neck and chest with his pink fan. "You really need to take an interest in girls your own age, Lavi-kun."

Kanda squinted. "Akuma…? Here?"

"Hm?" Allen murmured, turning to Kanda. "What was tha-"

Allen stopped mid-question when Kanda leapt gracefully off of the cliff. Lavi and Allen's jaws dropped.

"KANDAAAA?!"

The two remaining young men ran over to the spot Kanda had jumped off of, and sure enough, he was falling (In a graceful dive) towards two level one akuma.

"Does that guy have a death wish?!" Lavi cried, pulling out his hammer. "You don't just jump off a cliff like this!"

--

With a relatively calm expression on his face (especially for a person free-falling towards the ground), Kanda had drawn Mugen to his side and was prepared to attack the unknowing, slow, level one akuma.

**-KA-BOOM!-**

Kanda sliced cleanly through the first akuma, leaving behind a small explosion.

"One down," Kanda noted to himself, changing his mid-air position to retain more wind-resistance (now that he was closer to the ground). He pulled Mugen to his side once more and just barely launched an attack at the remaining akuma, before he was abruptly grabbed by the collar of his now open uniform's coat, the only thing he was wearing on his upper body.

"What the-" Kanda asked aloud, arching his neck back to see who (or what) had grabbed him.

"Kanda!" Allen cried, gripping onto the long-haired one's coat collar with one hand and Lavi's growing hammer with the other. "What were you thinking? That's a very-"

"**Stupid Moyashi!!" **Kanda complained, akuma explosions growing farther and farther away. "Who do you think you are, to pluck me out of battle?! Let me go!"

"Eh?! I saved your life, and this is how you thank me, girly-hair?!" Allen shot back.

"I never asked you to save me, old-man-hair!" Kanda barked.

"You guys suck at insults," Lavi called from a few feet ahead. The redhead was sitting sideways on his growing hammer, and had a happy look on his face. His hair, unrestricted by his headband, flowed fiercely behind him. He turned to face his arguing friends. "Can't you just enjoy the ride, guys?"

Allen reluctantly pulled Kanda up so he could grab the handle, which he did. Kanda positioned himself in between Allen and Lavi, still looking pretty pissed off. "How can I enjoy anything with Moyashi always getting in my way? What if I hadn't gotten that last akuma? We'd have to go back because of his meddling!"

"BE GRATEFUL!!" Allen complained, tugging on Kanda's long hair.

Before a fuming Kanda could turn around and attack Allen, the both of them produced a look of horror on their faces and stared straight ahead.

Lavi, who had been keeping himself amused by watching the pair, cocked his head at them. "What's wrong, you two?"

The other two exorcists pointed forwards. "THE TREE, YOU IDIOT!!" They both yelled.

Lavi raised his eyebrows and swirled his head around. Sure enough, the redhead was leading them all blindly into a very tall tree.

"GYAAAH!" Lavi cried, yanking the handle roughly upwards and to his left. The stiff handle turned, with some difficulty, the direction Lavi pulled it towards. The three managed to avoid the tree trunk, but everyone crashed through a fairly large section of leaves at high speed.

"Pfft!" Kanda spat, pieces of leaf shooting from his lips. "You stupid Eyepatch!" Kanda growled, sticking a finger in Lavi's collar and tugging him back. "What the hell are you thinking?! Pay attention to where you're going!"

"Nyaagh!" Lavi cried, trying to bat Kanda's hand away with on of his own hands. "Let go, asshole! Is Allen okay?" he asked, not looking backwards anymore.

Kanda, who was thoroughly pissed off now, looked back. He raised his eyebrows. "Moyashi… why are you all the way back there, now?" he called.

Allen was about twenty meters away from the other two at this point, gripping onto the handle for dear life. He had leaves and twigs in his hair. "Ugh! I got knocked back!" He yelled back to Kanda as he started to crawl towards the front.

Kanda turned back around, only to see Lavi turned around as well. He had a concerned look on his face.

"Allen-kuuuun!" Lavi yelled. "Are you okay?!"

"Idiot!" Kanda barked, leaning the opposite way of Lavi. He raised an eyebrow and let his mouth open slightly. "We're… We're not even on course anymore…"

"Heh?" Lavi asked, looking Kanda in the face (instead of turning around).

"We're not on **course** you moron!" Kanda said, gripping onto the handle with his thighs and turning Lavi's head around with both hands. "The town is a few miles to the right! We're heading for that lake!"

"Shit!" Lavi said, trying to redirect his hammer. The handle had been descending at too fast of a rate, though, and soon all that was visible was more trees.

"Eh? What's going on?" Allen yelled, from about ten meters away. He leaned his head to the side and stared at the direction they were all heading. "Augh! Not more trees!" The white-haired male clung even harder onto the handle and ducked his head.

"Duck, Yuu!" Lavi cried, holding one arm in front of his face and the other tightly onto the handle.

"Fuck!" Kanda cursed, tightening his own grip on the handle and lowering his head behind Lavi's back.

And so Lavi's growing hammer handle shot through the trees, and towards the lake. Allen's cries, Lavi's yelling and Kanda's cursing could be heard from the newly disturbed greenery as they plummeted through.

**-SPLASH!-**

The somewhat shallow, pristine lake was now littered with broken branches, leaves, and ripples on its surface. A few seconds later, Kanda broke the surface of the water, closely followed by Lavi. Lavi gasped for air while Kanda wrung out his hair, now in disarray and freed from its hair tie.

"Plugh!" Lavi coughed. He bobbed at the surface and lifted a hand out of the water to push his red hair out of his face. He looked around frantically. "Allen-kun?"

Kanda continued to wring out his hair, staying afloat somewhat more gracefully than Lavi. "This… I can't believe this! You two are unbelievably stupid!" He complained, looking around calmly for what one could assume to be his uniform coat instead of Allen.

Lavi was now swimming around awkwardly. "Allen-kun! Stop hiding, please!" His scanned the area with his eye. Kanda was floating about nine feet away from him, branches and debris coated the lake's surface… no Allen!

"ALLEN!!" Lavi cried.

"Shut UP!" Kanda yelled, treading the water calmly, but angrily.

"You shut up!" Lavi yelled back. "I can't find Allen! What if he drowned? What if he got skewered on a tree branch?" He fretted. "ALLEN!"

"If the stupid little Moyashi dies that easily, he deserves it!" Kanda complained. "Where in hell is my coat?"

"We lost him…" Lavi said, swimming and scanning the area over again. "WE LOST ALLEN!!"

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**A/N:** Oh noes!! What on earth could have happened to our poor Allen? D: I guess you'll have to find out next chapter. :D Nyah. Review, my loves! -heart-


	3. Birds and Fruit

**A/N: **Oiy... I could almost feel our beloved exorcists' pain as I wrote this, it was smoldering hot today. Stupid extreme weather of the Rockies! Anyways, here's chapter three. C: I'm quite enjoying writing this story, I usually don't write chaptered adventure stories. I hope you guys are enjoying it, too. D': (If you are, tell me. XD All of my reviews have made me happy.) 8D

So, enjoy Kanda's sour mood! :D (I'm also starting to get my alerts from the site again, hooray!)

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Chapter three: Birds and Fruit

"ALLEN-KUUUN!!"

"**MOYASHI!!"**

"It's no use!" Lavi cried, sitting down on the shore of the now emptied lake. "What do we do now?" he asked, looking up at Kanda, who was still standing.

Kanda crossed his arms over his now bare chest (due to the loss of his coat), and scanned the area. He looked up into the trees. "He must have gotten stuck in one of the trees, as we were coming in," he decided.

Lavi sighed, and grabbed his hammer from the sand. "Guess we're going back in, then…"

--

"**KAW!"**

"Ka-kaw!"

"E-easy, there…" Allen cooed. The white-haired exorcist was hanging onto a bobbing tree branch with both hands near the top of a tall tree, the afternoon sun beating intensely onto him. Branches from another nearby tree were stretching over towards Allen's location, and two puffed up, curious ravens were perched upon one, staring at Allen.

The larger of the two ravens strutted down the branch, closer to Allen's face. "Krawww!" it croaked.

Allen gulped, and looked down. The ground wasn't really visible through all of the foliage, and even if he wanted to move, he didn't want to make any sudden movements to anger the birds.

"LAVIII!" Allen yelled into the trees below.

"KAW KAW KAW!" The big raven protested, flapping its wings. The smaller one started croaking and flapping its wings, too.

"Auh!" Allen cried, turning his head and shutting his eyes. "I'm sorry!" he apologized to the birds.

--

"What was that?" Kanda asked.

"What was what?" Lavi asked, stopping his growing hammer momentarily. He and Kanda had been proceeding slowly through the trees on Lavi's hammer handle.

"I heard Moyashi," Kanda announced. "He's behind us, now. Up in a tree."

"Wow," Lavi said, scratching the side of his head and looking upwards. "You sure?"

"Yes!" Kanda insisted, obviously insulted that Lavi doubted him. "Now let's redirect this thing to go upwards!"

Lavi obeyed Kanda's order. "You're sure trying hard to find someone you supposedly hate," Lavi teased.

Kanda growled.

--

Allen groaned. "What do I do?" He asked the big raven. It tilted his head at him.

"Kraw."

"ALLEN!"

Allen perked up and tried turning his head around, not being able to see through his up stretched arm. "Lavi?!"

"Kawwww!" the raven growled.

Allen took a chance and swung himself up onto the branch he was hanging from, to the displeasure of the noisy raven. He sat and watched as Lavi and Kanda ascended directly upwards through the trees on the redheads growing hammer. Then the handle started to tilt in Allen's direction.

…At an increasingly fast rate.

Allen raised his eyebrows. He could hear Kanda's cursing from above.

"GERANIMO!!" Lavi hollered, as the handle quickly fell towards Allen's tree.

"Uwah!!" Allen cried as they got closer, throwing his arms over his head and ducking.

-FWOOSH- **-CRACK-**

The cracking sound was way to close for comfort. Allen opened one eye, and then the other, before looking towards the trunk of the tree he was on. The handle of Lavi's hammer was positioned in between a fork in the wide branches near the middle of the tree. Lavi was laughing at the front, and Kanda was fuming right behind him.

"Now, can I steer this thing or _what?!_" Lavi said happily. The tree was still swaying from the harsh impact.

"You idiot!" Kanda growled. "What a haphazard landing…"

Lavi turned around and gave Kanda a disapproving look. "Can you do anything but complain, Yuu?"

"**DON'T** call me that."

"You guys!" Allen cried, waving frantically from his branch. Both of the ravens from the other tree were now positioned on each of Allen's shoulders, preening themselves and Allen's hair. "Over here!"

"Allen-kuuun!" Lavi bellowed, waving just as hard. "We thought you were dead!"

"Hey!" Kanda said, his eyes locked on a branch below Allen. "That's my coat…!"

--

After a while, the three exorcists dropped one by one from the branches near the bottom of the tree. They brushed themselves off, and Kanda slid on his coat that he had retrieved from one of the branches.

"Wow, it's a lot darker down here…" Allen commented, putting his hands on his hips and looking around the shady area filled with matured trees and other plant life. His face and open white shirt were both streaked with dirt, and pieces of leaves still remained in his bright white hair.

"It's way cooler, too," Lavi sighed contently, putting away his now tiny hammer. He brushed off his arms and studied Allen. He laughed. "You're a mess, Walker!" he commented, walking over to his shorter friend and plucking a few leaves from his hair. "I'm glad you're okay…" he said, not looking Allen in the face.

Allen blinked at Lavi and smiled. "Thanks for coming back for me," he said, folding his hands in front of himself and beaming at his redheaded friend.

"Hmph…" Kanda huffed, crossing his arms again and walking past the two. "I'm the one who figured out you got left behind in the trees," he said, back facing the two. "And I'm the one who heard your cry, too."

Lavi frowned at Kanda's back and Allen laughed, turning around and tiptoeing up to Kanda. His eyes gleamed deviously and he threw his arms around Kanda's neck, in an ambush hug. "Thank you, Yuu!"

Kanda flinched and flushed red. "Yo-you… get off me!" he cried in surprise at Allen's unexpected actions. "And don't call me by my first name!"

Lavi grinned and walked up next to the pair of them, as Allen finally let go after much of Kanda's flailing. "So, wanna try attempt number two to fly into town?" he asked.

"No," Kanda said darkly, stomping away. "It's not far now… not far enough to get back on the Hell Hammer, let's put it that way…"

Lavi and Allen smirked at each other.

"You think Yuu-chan is afraid of heights?" Lavi whispered, as the two began following their huffy friend.

"I think he's more afraid of the way you operate your hammer, Lavi-kun…"

--

Half an hour later, the three exorcists had walked long enough to find a dirt road to travel alongside (It took half an hour because Lavi insisted on taking a detour from Kanda's set route, much to the dark-haired ones displeasure).

"Heh…" Lavi panted, arms and head drooping as he walked alongside Allen. Allen too, looked exhausted and wiped sweat from his brow with the back of his hand, squinting upwards to the nearly-cloudless sky.

"This is horrible…" Lavi complained to Kanda's exposed back. The exorcist leading the way had apparently gotten too hot to continue wearing his heavy coat, so he'd wrapped it around his waist.

"Stop complaining," Kanda demanded, trekking forwards. "You're the ones who wanted to do this. The town is only another sixteen minutes away."

"Sixteen exactly?" Allen asked.

"Yes."

Lavi rolled his eyes and let his eyes wander to the trees to their left. His eyes lit up. "Apples!" Lavi cried, running over to one of the trees.

"Huh?" Kanda said, stopping to watch the redhead bound through the grass, over to the small lone apple tree.

"Good find, Lavi-kun!" Allen called after the redhead, who was climbing very ungracefully up the tree. "Pick me one, too!"

"Get over here, Allen!" Lavi called. Allen obeyed and jogged after his friend.

"Dear God…" Kanda muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes. As Lavi tossed down several apples to Allen from the tree, Kanda's ears twitched and he opened his eyes, turning back to the road. The sound of horse's hooves caught his attention.

Sure enough, a cream colored horse was trotting down the dirt road, pulling behind it a small wooden carriage filled partly with apples and a middle aged man.

"Oh," Kanda said to himself, as the man yanked on his horse's ropes and stopped a few feet away from Kanda.

"Hello," the man said, tilting the hat he was wearing to Kanda before his eyes locked on the apple tree Lavi was assaulting. "What're you young guys doing all the way out here, on such a hot day? You wanna get heat exhaustion?"

Kanda sighed. "It's… my comrades wanted to go into town for something…" he explained. "That's where we're heading, now."

The man nodded. "Comrades, eh? It looks like they sure love apples…"

Kanda turned with a bitter look on his face, and winced at the sight of his 'comrades'. Allen was trying to eat an apple with no hands while he held a dozen or so in his arms for Lavi, who was tossing them to Allen with one hand and eating an apple of his own with the other.

Kanda turned his head back around, and stared at the apples partly filling the mans carriage. "I assume you came here to collect the apples from this tree?"

The man nodded slowly, watching Lavi and Allen. "Yep…"

Kanda sighed again, and walked stiffly over to Allen. He found a dirt clod in the grass, and picked it up. "Hey, greedy Moyashi!" He barked, chucking the dirt clod at Allen.

Allen turned his head to Kanda, apple still in his mouth, until the dirt clod hit him smack in the middle of his face. He spat out the apple and dropped all the ones he had collected in his arms. "Oww!" he rubbed his nose. "What's the big idea?"

Another apple came down from the tree and hit Allen on top of the head. "Owwww!!" Allen complained.

"Eh?" Lavi said, looking down at Allen and taking a big bite out of his nearly finished apple. "Oh, sorry. You dropped all the apples!" he complained.

"Stop being pigs!" Kanda yelled. He pointed at the old man behind him, who looked fairly confused and amused. "This man needs to sell these apples to live!"

"Well, that's getting a little dramatic…" The man called over, hopping down from his seat. He walked over to the scene, glancing at each young man and the tree one of them was sitting in. "I collect apples around here at this time of year, and sell them in the town for some extra money," he explained. "I'll just take the ones you don't eat, young man," he said to Lavi.

Lavi jumped down from the tree and wiped his mouth. "I'm sorry," he said, looking back up into the tree. "I only really wanted one. But, I have a question to ask you."

"Me?" The man asked. Lavi looked back at him and nodded.

"If we all help pick and carry the apples to your wagon, can we hitch a ride in there until we get into town?" Lavi asked, glancing at the shaded part of the old mans carriage.

"Oh? Sure you can!" the old man happily agreed. "That'd be swell of you young fellows. I'll wait at the carriage for you all," he said, walking back to the carriage.

"Yes!" Lavi said, jumping up and grabbing back onto one of the tree branches. "No more walking for us!" he cheered, picking apples extra fast from the tree and tossing them down to Allen.

"Y-yay!" Allen agreed, dodging half of the falling apples and catching the rest.

Kanda growled, glaring at the apples on the ground. "Moyashi can collect the apples, then…" he muttered, pulling out Mugen. He began slicing down apples from the other side of the tree.

"Heh?" Allen asked, another apple bouncing off his head.

--

Soon enough, every last apple had been either picked or sliced from the tree, and Allen had delivered every single one into the old mans carriage.

"You young guys are sure efficient!" The old man complimented as the four of them traveled down the dirt road.

In the back of the carriage sat Lavi, Kanda, and Allen in between both of them. They sat among the apples, under the shaded part of the carriage. Kanda was crossing his arms and gazing out at the scenery left behind the wagon. Allen continued to eat the apples around his feet.

"Thanks a lot!" Lavi replied, resting his arms on his bent knees. "So, do you live in… uh…"

"Eckbey?" The old man finished Lavi's sentence. "No, I have my own little place about forty minutes away. I come into town for all my shopping, though."

"Ah," Lavi said, turning to Allen and Kanda. "Hey, Yuu."

Kanda continued to silently stare out the back of the wagon.

"Yuu? Are you having a good time, yet?"

Still no reply.

Allen chewed a large bite of apple and cocked his head at the silent exorcist. He grabbed an apple and held it in front of Kanda. "Want an apple, Kanda?"

"…No, thank you," Kanda replied without turning around.

Allen and Lavi looked at each other and shrugged.

"We're almost there," the old man announced. Lavi stuck his head out the front of the carriage and beamed.

"There it is!" Lavi said.

"Finally!" Allen said joyously. "I can finally get my ice cream!"

"And then we can finally go home…" Kanda muttered.

* * *

**A/N:** Teehee. Kanda is so much fun to write. I wish I had a friend like him. xD

And so, our three favorite exorcists finally arrive at their destination. Well, almost. Will Kanda's mood improve in town? Will Allen get the ice cream he wants? Will Lavi hit on the middle-aged cafe owner? Find out next chapter! (Reviews spur me to write moar! 8D Share your thoughts, guise! :D)


	4. Moody Kanda

A/N: Hello, everyone! -sweatdrop- Sorry for the long, long, LONG overdue update. I'm sure I could make up some kind of excuse for the huge gap between updates, but I won't bother. XD Here is chapter four, though! Enjoy! :D

* * *

Moody Kanda

"Here we are!" The old man called back to the three tired, boiling hot exorcists. The wagon came to a halt, and the old man jumped out from his seat. "So, where're you young men heading now?" he asked, walking around to the side of the wagon.

Lavi was first to jump out of the back, knocking out a few apples while doing so. "We're heading towards a particular cafe, the one that sells ice cream..." the redhead explained, brushing some dirt off of the rear of his pants as he talked.

"And pie and lemonade and roasted potatoes and mitarashi dango..." Allen trailed off, hopping out of the wagon and walking up to Lavi's side. Lavi grinned at him.

"We're gonna put the Order in the poor house if we try and satisfy your appetite while we're out, Allen-kun."

"Moyashi is a gluttonous pig with a bottomless pit for a stomach..." Kanda muttered while stepping out of the wagon.

Allen turned and frowned at his dark-haired comrade. "I'm not a gluttonous pig..."

The old man chuckled and shook his head. "You three are sure something else. But in regards to what you're looking for, there's several cafe's in town that sell ice cream. I'm not quite sure which you fella's are looking for."

"The one we're looking for is owned by a brunette middle-aged woman," Lavi explained. "Long hair, slim figure..." Lavi smiled. "You know?"

Allen rolled his eyes and bopped Lavi in the side of the head.

"Ow."

The old man laughed again. "Oh, Irene. She owns the Silver Cross Cafe on Main Street." The old man turned slightly and pointed down a side street. "Go straight down that way and you'll see the cafe to your right after a few blocks. I gotta keep moving straight ahead to my apple buyer."

Lavi smiled widely and nodded. "Thanks a lot for the lift!"

"And the directions!" Allen added.

The two looked back at Kanda, who was leaning against the wagon, and stared at him expectantly.

"...Yes, thank you." Kanda said to the old man, staring off in the direction they had just come from.

"It was no problem at all," The old man said happily as he got back into his seat on his wagon. "You boys have a good afternoon. And try not to overheat!" he added, just as the horse began to trot away.

"You too!" Lavi called, waving to the back of the wagon. Allen grabbed one last apple before the wagon rolled out of his reach.

"Yay! We know where the cafe is, now," Allen said happily, shining his apple on his sleeve and looking at Lavi. He frowned when he saw Lavi staring with an eyebrow arched at Kanda, though. "Lavi?"

Kanda was standing stiffly in the direction he and his comrades had just come from. Lavi walked up behind him and tapped him on the top of his head.

"Hey, Yuu!" Lavi said loudly. "What's with giving us all the cold shoulder all of a sudden?" Lavi asked.

Kanda glanced at Lavi and sighed. "You two are just embarrassing. And pathetic."

Lavi and Allen both stared at Kanda, obviously offended.

"Eh??" Allen said, with a mouth full of apple.

"How's that?" Lavi asked, crossing his bare arms and adjusting his stance.

"You two raping that apple tree for all it's got like a couple of uncouth vagabonds!" Kanda barked in Lavi's face, who in turn raised his eyebrows in alarm. "Neither of you have any grace or manners."

"Hey! We we're ju-" Lavi started.

"And then asking that old guy for a ride, when I TOLD you it would only be a sixteen minute walk," Kanda interrupted, his face closer to Lavi's now. "How lazy _ARE_ YOU?" He asked, with a bitter expression on his face and his nose almost touching the redheads. Lavi swallowed uncomfortably.

"Is it possible you just have too much fucking pride, Kanda?" Lavi shot back, without moving away from Kanda's face. "What does it matter? The old guy was nice, and we provided a service for HIS service!" he said, defending his actions.

"And we weren't _raping_ the apple tree, Kanda," Allen said, tossing his apple (now apple _core_) to the side of the road. "We we're hungry and dehydrated. We we're simply-"

"I don't care," Kanda huffed, and began walking down the street the old man had directed them. "Let's just get what we came here for and GO **HOME**."

Lavi and Allen stood, watching the dark haired teen storm away. They looked at each other.

"What the hell is up HIS ass?!" Lavi complained, wiping his forehead. He stared upwards and squinted at the sunlight.

Allen dug through the pockets of his black pants and pulled out a hair tie, which he proceeded to pull his hair back with into a short ponytail. "Maybe the heat is just making him more bitter than usual..."

"You've got THAT right, Moyashi..." Lavi said, following Kanda slowly.

"It's ALLEN!" Allen complained, following Lavi.

--

"YUU!" Lavi yelled, after a few blocks of walking. He and Allen were about a block behind Kanda at this point.

"Kanda!" Allen called. "Why don't you wait for us?"

"Maybe you two should walk faster!" Kanda yelled back.

Lavi and Allen huffed. "Who does that guy think he is?" Lavi complained. "Right, Allen?" The Jr. Bookman turned to his right when Allen didn't reply, just to see the shorter white-haired teen jogging down a different street.

"A-Allen! Hey!" Lavi called, chasing after him. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"I saw a dog chasing a stray cat, and the cat was bleeding!" Allen called over his shoulder. "I wanna help it!"

Lavi grinned to himself and continued to chase Allen. "Stop being so damn nice all the time and come back! We're gonna get lost!"

Allen stopped momentarily and looked around, before taking off again down an alley. "This way, Lavi!"

"ALLEN!"

--

"What are you two idiots yelling abou-" Kanda began, turning around. He stopped. "Huh?"

He looked around before walking back the way he came. Lavi and Allen had disappeared.

"Moyashi? Baka Usagi?" Kanda called, stopping at a deserted intersection. He looked down each road, to no avail. "Where the fuck...?"

--

"Bark! **BARK!**"

"Stay back!" Allen said to the angry canine, with a fat cat wrapped around his neck.

"Mrooowwww..." the cat groaned, pawing at Allen's ponytail.

At that moment Lavi came tearing around the corner, and stopped when he found Allen. "You finally stopped!" Lavi panted. His eye darted between the cat around Allen's neck and the dog.

"Grrr!" the dog growled. "**Bark!**" It barked, before leaping towards Allen's neck.

"No!" Allen said, lifting up his left arm in defence.

Before the dog could reach the cat around Allen's neck, it reached the front of Lavi's hammer instead.

The dog cried after it had leapt accidentally into Lavi's outstretched hammer and ran away, whimpering.

Lavi stood next to Allen and lifted his hammer away, resting the long handle on his shoulder. "Well, that was close." He looked at Allen with his green eye. "I don't really recommend keeping a stray, bleeding feline on your neck, Allen."

Allen looked at Lavi and then to the cat, which he had pried away from his neck. It meowed loudly at him. "I didn't put him there, he jumped up there. Cat's always do that to me..." Allen commented as the cat squirmed in his hands.

Lavi raised an eyebrow and inspected Allen's neck. "Really? Why?" he asked, running his hand behind the shorter one's neck. "There's nothing special about it... besides the fact it's sweaty..."

Allen blushed and stared at Lavi with wide eyes. "I don't know! Stop touching me, Lavi!" he said, flustered and pushing Lavi's hand away.

Lavi laughed and rested his hand on Allen's head. "Don't be so uptight, Allen!"

"Mroooowwwww!!" the cat complained. Allen lifted the cat to his face and inspected it.

"Do you think its hurt badly?" he asked Lavi. The cat pawed at his scar.

Lavi looked away. "Uh... does Yuu know that we took off on him...?" he asked back at Allen.

* * *

A/N: Hurr hurr, Kanda got ditched... XD Sorry again for the very late update! Please reviews my darlings! :D


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